StrongerBible

ḥaphets

חָפֵץ

HebrewH2654delight, please, ...

Appears 74 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Gen 34:19Num 14:8Deu 21:14Deu 25:7Deu 25:8Jdg 13:23Rut 3:131Sa 2:251Sa 18:221Sa 19:12Sa 15:262Sa 20:112Sa 22:202Sa 24:31Ki 9:11Ki 10:92Ch 9:8Est 6:6Job 9:3Job 13:3Job 21:14Job 33:32Job 40:17Psa 37:23Psa 40:6(7)Psa 40:8(9)Psa 41:11(12)Psa 51:6(8)Psa 51:16(18)Psa 51:19(21)Psa 68:30(31)Psa 73:25Psa 119:35Psa 147:10Pro 18:2Pro 21:1Ecc 8:3Sng 2:7Sng 3:5Sng 8:4Isa 1:11Isa 13:17Isa 55:11Isa 56:4Isa 58:2 (2×)Isa 65:12Isa 66:3Isa 66:4Jer 6:10Jer 9:24(23)
Root family
Word studykha-FATSverb

What ḥaphets means

1

to find pleasure in something, so that you want it and lean toward it

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintySettled

At its heart this word names a leaning of the whole person toward something the subject finds good. It is not a cool decision but a felt inclination: the thing pleases you, and because it pleases you, you want it. The same word therefore covers both the pleasure ("I delight in this") and the wanting that flows from the pleasure ("I am willing to do this"), and a given verse can sit anywhere along that line.

The two shades below are the same disposition viewed from two angles. When the focus is on a person or thing that pleases the subject, it reads as delighting in or taking pleasure in. When the focus is on an action the subject is drawn to do (or, very often, not drawn to do), it reads as wanting or being willing. Hebrew makes no hard break between them, and many verses could be heard either way.

The word is striking for how often God is its subject. The Bible repeatedly says what God does and does not take pleasure in: not in the death of the wicked, not in mere sacrifice without obedience, but in steady love, in justice, and in his own people. Because the same verb names both God's delight and a human wish, it carries real weight: what pleases God is presented as the measure of what is genuinely good.

Nuances

1ato delight in, take pleasure in someone or something
Num 14:82Sa 22:201Ki 10:92Ch 9:8Psa 18:19Psa 22:8Psa 109:17Psa 112:1Psa 147:10Isa 42:21Isa 53:10Isa 62:4
1bto wish, want, or be willing to do something
Deu 21:14Deu 25:7Deu 25:8Rut 3:132Sa 15:261Ki 9:1Est 2:14Est 6:6Est 6:7Est 6:9Est 6:11Job 9:3
2

to bend or make stiff (said of an animal's tail)

TranslatabilityDirectCertaintyObscure

This is a separate word that happens to be spelled the same. It appears once, describing the great beast in Job whose tail it "bends" or "stiffens" like a cedar. It has nothing to do with pleasure or desire; the standard reference works treat it as an unrelated root, and it survives only in this single line.

Readers should not let the far more common word for delight color this verse. The picture is purely physical: a massive, rigid tail compared to a tree, not anything the creature wants or enjoys.

Job 40:17

What scholars say about ḥaphets

Standard lexica treat the common verb as one root spanning delight, pleasure, desire, and willingness, with God as a frequent subject; they list the homonym in Job 40:17 ("to bend, make stiff") as an unrelated word. The theological dictionaries stress the verb's role in describing what God does and does not take pleasure in, such as steady covenant love over mere sacrifice.

Sources

  • HALOT, s.v. חפץ I and חפץ IIlexicon
  • BDB, s.v. חפץlexicon
  • DCH, s.v. חפץlexicon
  • G. J. Botterweck, H. Ringgren, and H.-J. Fabry (eds.), Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament (TDOT), s.v. חפץdictionary
  • R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer, and B. K. Waltke (eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (TWOT), s.v. חפץdictionary
  • W. A. VanGemeren (ed.), New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis (NIDOTTE), s.v. חפץdictionary

All attested forms of חָפֵץ

qal perfect 3ms

חָפֵץ

Gen 34:19, Num 14:8, Jdg 13:23, 1Sa 2:25, 1Sa 18:22, 1Sa 19:1, 2Sa 20:11, 2Sa 22:20

qal perfect 1cs

חָפַצְתִּי, חָפָצְתִּי

Deu 25:8, 2Sa 15:26, Job 33:32, Psa 73:25, Isa 55:11, Isa 65:12, Isa 66:4, Jer 9:24

qal imperfect 3ms

יַחְפֹּץ, יֶחְפָּץ

Deu 25:7, Rut 3:13, Est 6:6, Job 9:3, Job 40:17, Pro 18:2, Pro 21:1, Ecc 8:3

qal imperfect 3mp

יֶחְפָּצוּ, יַחְפְּצוּ

Psa 68:30, Isa 58:2, Isa 58:2, Isa 13:17, Jer 6:10

qal perfect 2ms

חָפַצְתָּ

Deu 21:14, Psa 40:6, Psa 41:11, Psa 51:6, Jon 1:14

qal imperfect 1cs

אֶחְפֹּץ, אֶחְפָּץ

Ezk 18:23, Ezk 18:32, Ezk 33:11, Job 13:3

qal imperfect 3fs

תֶּחְפָּץ

Sng 2:7, Sng 3:5, Sng 8:4

qal imperfect 2ms

תַּחְפֹּץ

Psa 51:16, Psa 51:19

qal infinitive-absolute absolute

חָפֹץ

Ezk 18:23

qal perfect 1cp

חָפָצְנוּ

Job 21:14

qal perfect 2mp

חֲפַצְתֶּם

Jer 42:22

qal perfect 3fs

חָפֵצָה

Isa 66:3